Fenton? Phantom?
by phanelric
Summary: Danny Phantom gets interrogated by his class. Valerie runs into Amity's park's most famous ghost. Jack and Maddie take Phantom in for experimenting. Does Danny manage to keep his secret intact? Uhh...nope. A series of one-shots revolving around Danny's secret being revealed. Rated T for swearing and some minor dark themes.
1. Class Interrogation

Danny sat in Mr. Lancer's English class, attempting to listen to the conversations in order to avoid falling asleep, because whatever Mr. Lancer was teaching was _surely_ going to put him to sleep in a matter of seconds. However, he quickly realized that the conversations happening around him were not more interesting than Mr. Lancer's lesson on what he was almost positive was _The Great Gatsby _(which he did not even begin reading). After accepting defeat, he put his head down on the desk, forehead resting on his arms, suddenly hearing one conversation that caught his attention.

"Did you hear about the ghost boy?" Paulina not-so-subtly whispered to the other A-listers.

_What about the ghost boy? _Danny thought.

"Paulina...no offesne, but uh, I don't think any of us pay nearly as much attention to Phantom as you do," Kwan answered her.

"It's because you're not _in love _with him like I am," she retorted back. "Well, maybe Dash is," she smirked.

Dash, who had hardly been paying attention to the conversation, perked up immeditely after hearing these words. "What!? I'm not _in love _with him. I just think that he's, like, the hero that this town needs." He crossed his arms, turning away to face the wall.

_Wow, _Danny thought. _If he weren't a bully maybe, just maybe I'd actually be touched by that. _

Before Danny could catch anymore of their conversation, a blue wisp escaped his mouth, and his hand bolted up in the air.

Lancer, not even looking up from his lesson notes, answered Danny's question before Danny had the chance to ask. "Yes, Mr. Fenton, you may go to the bathroom."

Danny ran for the door, out into the hallway, eyes roaming for a place to change. Before he could settle on a spot, he heard a cry for help escape the classroom he just left. "Ahh, fuck it," he said, transforming into his alter ego. He phased through the door of his classroom, floating a few feet off the ground.

"Look, it's the ghost boy!" Paulina yelled, pointing in Danny's direction.

"Uhh, hi," Danny rested his hand on the back of his neck. "W-where's the ghost?"

"What ghost? All I see is you," Paulina fluttered her eyes at him.

"But- I heard a scream," Danny questioned. _Did my ghost sense go off for no reason? Or maybe the ghost left… _

"Oh, that was me," Paulina said. "I thought that if you heard a scream, you would come to see what it was."

"But-" Danny started. _What the fuck? Did she know I was nearby? I don't have a signal you can aim into the sky or whatever..._ "Ahh, nevermind. I should be going now," Danny headed for the door.

"What? No! Can we ask you some questions first?" Dash asked.

Mr. Lancer spoke up. "Now class I don't think that-"

"Oh, please Mr. Lancer! Aren't you curious about the ghost boy too?" Paulina cried, followed by shouts of "Yeah, please Mr. Lancer!" From the remainder of the class.

"Fine fine. If he wants to, I suppose…" Lancer said, walking behind his desk.

"Um, I mean, I guess a few questions couldn't hurt," Danny sighed, landing on the ground in front of the class.

"Yay! Okay, me first. How old are you?" Paulina asked.

Danny thought about this. It should've been an easy question. He was fourteen when the accident happened, but he was fifteen now. "I'm fifteen," he decided.

"Wow, so young…" the class spoke.

"Okay, next question," Dash said. "How did you die?"

"I…" Danny trailed off, wondering how to answer that. He didn't really like to talk about that topic, especially because he wasn't _entirely _dead. "A lab accident."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry…"

"That must have been terrible…"

"Okay, I have a question," Valerie spoke up. "We heard a rumor that you might be a, what's it called...a "halfa"?" She asked. "Do they actually exist, and are you one of them?"

"What? What's a halfa?"

"See, I _knew _I wasn't the only one that found out about that."

Danny sucked in a breath of air. _Did you hear about the ghost boy? _Paulina's words came back to him. Could that have been what she was talking about? About him only being part ghost? But if so, how did she suspect that? _Why _did she supsect that? Danny's hands started to shake, his heart thumping out of his chest Now _that _was a question he did not know how to respond to. "Well…" His voice was higher than normal. "That's kind of a, uh, secret."

"Oh, come on! You don't have to tell us _who _you are, just tell us if it's true or not," Dash said.

"I-" Danny was stuck. He could tell them the truth, that he _was _a half-ghost without revealing who he was, and honestly, most of his class was too dumb to figure it out, anyways. _I mean, Valerie, who's probably the smartest in the class and a ghost hunter couldn't figure it out. _

_Until now,_ the back of his mind spoke.

"Umm," Danny let out a nervous laugh. "Why do you think that?"

"There's news going around from famous ghost hunters that you have more human characteristics than other ghosts, so I guess they thought maybe you could be a ghost who can also turn human," Valerie responded. "So, are you one of them?"

_Oh, shit. Do I even try to hide this anymore? I'm on the brink here…_

"Uhh, well," Danny had no idea how to answer this without revealing his secret. "It kind of a, well, secret." _Smooooth, Fenton. _

After hearing this part of the conversation, Mr. Lancer peaked his head up from his books, studying the ghost's and his student's reactions. "Now class, if he doesn't want to share that information then we can't force him to."

"Oh come on, ghost boy! We won't tell anyone," Paulina batted her eyelashes in his direction.

"I mean, that's honestly kind of what I'm worried about. I can't share many details about me for fear of other people finding out," Danny calmy explained to his class. He really managed to get himself in a sticky situation.

Paulina softly sighed, putting her head down out of sadness. She really wanted to know everything about the ghost boy that there was to know. "Uhh, anymore questions?" Danny asked his class. _Please for the love of god let me leave. _A few more students raised their hands, some simply began to shout out questions, but Mr. Lancer silenced them.

"Class, _please. _We have to let the poor boy go at _some _point," he demanded.

Danny gave a few waves to the class, a "See you around," and headed for the door. As his hand was on the door handle, he heard voices coming from the hallway.

"Maddie, the ghost radar is showing that there's spectral activity come from this classroom," Jack excitedly informed his wife.

"Isn't this the classroom Danny is in?" Maddie worriedly responded to her husband. Her hand was on the door handle now.

_Oh, crud. _Knowing he couldn't fly out quick enough (even if he did, he was positive they'd still somehow manage to find him", and thinking that he couldn't turn invisible because he'd still registar on their radar, Danny did the only thing he was _positive _would lure his parents away. He willed the white rings to appear around his waist, and he changed back into Danny Fenton.

He felt every pair of eyes in the classroom staring through his soul as he ran back to his seat, just in time for his parents to walk through the door. Mr. Lancer, still recovering from the shock, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, caught Danny's pleading eyes begging him for help. Mr. Lancer cleared his throat, shutting his mouth closed. "Hello," he greeted Jack and Maddie Fenton. "Is there a problem here?"

"Our ghost radar indicated that there was spectral energy radiating from this classroom, but it seems to have dissapeared completely," Maddie stared at the radar, utterly shocked. "There's not ghost for...miles."

"Aww, I guess we missed him," Jack whined. Him and Maddie headed for the door, adding a quick "Hi, Danny!" before exiting.

The class, some of whom hadn't bothered to remove their eyes from Danny, were at a complete loss for words from the situation. "Mr. Fenton, do you mind explaining to us _what exactly just happened?" _

**Hello everyone! So this is a new series I'm starting that revolves around people close to Danny (his parents, classmates, Lancer, Jazz, Valerie, you name it), discovering his secret by "capturing" him (or maybe by getting into some kind of situation with him, I'm not really sure yet). But basically, it's just a series of reveal fics. I hope you enjoy this series :) **

**-phanelric **


	2. Trapped

**Hello everyone, I'm sorry it's been so long! I've been extremely busy with college and haven't had much extra time to write ;-; But I loved writing the first chapter of this story, and I've been very eager to get back to writing the next chapter. So, here is chapter 2! **

**Disclamier: I do not own Danny Phantom. **

Danny sat at the kitchen table, quietly munching on his cereal. His gaze was directed downwards into the bowl, wanting to avoid the topic of conversation his parents were currently engaged in.

"Jack, I love you, but that's a terrible idea," Maddie argued with her husband.

"Aww, Mads, you want to capture the ghost boy, don't you? Then we should follow through with this plan," Jack whined, a hint of excitement laced through his voice. "The ghost boy won't see it comin',"

_I will if I'm sitting right in front of you, _Danny thought annoyed.

"I think we need to put my ideas and your ideas together and come to a much more logical compromise, how does that sound?" Maddie suggested.

"Okay, fine, but it still should be 95% my idea," Jack was silent for a minute, and then, "What do you think, Danny-boy?"

Danny dropped his spoon into his bowl of cereal, milk splattering all over the table. "Uh, what do I think about what?" He glanced over at Jazz, who had momentarily put her book down to give him a worried yet unsurprised, sympathetic look.

"Jack, now, we don't need the kids involved in the matter. Now let's go to the lab to create some new inventions to use on Phantom, shall we?" With that, Jack and Maddie walked down the stairs into the laboratory, leaving Jazz to resume to her book, and Danny to sit in his chair, barely shaking, annoyance and a hint of fear radiating off of him.

He went to get up from his chair, bringing his bowl to the sink, when Jazz stopped him. "Danny, I don't know how you put up with mom and dad, sometimes. They get on my case a lot, too, but at least they aren't trying to _dissect _me,"

"I know, Jazz. It's just that...I mean, I'm not afraid of what they would do if they found out, because after the Freakshow incident, I know they'd accept me. I guess that when they start to talk about _how _they would capture and experiment on Phantom, I just panic a little," Danny took a deep breath. "They could follow through with almost an entire scientifical, painful procedure without knowing it was me," Danny set his bowl down on the table, feeling his hands shaking.

Jazz took the opportunity to get up from her chair and walk over to her him, enveloping her small, delicate hands into his larger, calloused ones. "Danny, I know. You have a good support system to help you through that, though. There's me, and Sam, and Tucker. That's not going to happen, okay? It's going to be okay," she noticed Danny start to calm down. "Why don't you go finish getting ready and I'll drive you to school, okay?"

Danny nodded, and slowly proceeded to head upstairs.

Before sunset, Danny was flying over the streets of Amity Park, wanting faster transportation from school, and a chance to clear his mind from the day's events. He spotted his house about a mile away, and landed in a nearby alley to change. Before he could, he spotted a green glow emanating from around the corner.

"That's weird...my ghost sense didn't go off," Danny began to cautiously walk towards the green glow, trying to locate its source. He figured it was best to inspect it invisibly, just in case the source was something not-so-friendly and harmless. He turned the corner only to find a small box sitting in the middle of the cement, the glow radiating from it. Scanning his surroundings, making sure no threat was nearby, he turned visible again. He bent down and reached for the cube. Next thing he knew, he was being zapped by ropes that seemed to be engulfing him into some kind of net. Through his fading vision, he managed to make out two figures, almost completely engulfed by the shadows of the alley. Two of Amity Park's most famous ghost hunters, Jack and Maddie Fenton.

Danny woke up on a cold, hard table. He tried to sit up, only painfully realizing that his body was strapped to the table. He was tied at the wrists, ankles, and there were three straps going across his chest, torso, and shins. _Where am I? _Danny looked around the room, taking only a few seconds to realize that he was in the laboratory of his own house. "Well, this can't be right."

"Oh, sure it can, ghost boy," Maddie Fenton slowly walked over to the table, boots clacking against the hard tiles.

"In your face, ghost!" Jack Fenton yelled from opposite Maddie.

"Jack, honey, not now," Madde cleared her throat. "We don't want to hurt you, ghost boy. We just want some answers to our questions. And a few samples. If you don't cooperate, well, then we'll have no other choice but to inflict some pain on you."

"Oh, awesome. There's no other way I'd want to spend a Friday night," Danny sighed, a look of annoyance spread across his face, hiding the fairly large amount of fear he felt.

"Now, what is your name, ghost?" Maddie leaned in towards him, examining every inch of him.

Danny flinched away slightly. "Well it's not ghost boy, I can tell you that," Danny paused, "It's Phantom. Danny Phantom."

"Hmm, clever, I suppose," Maddie yawned. "Okay, second question. How old were you when you died?"

Danny inhaled sharply. "Fourteen."

Maddie gasped. "That's so young...not much younger than my son," a trace of sympathy ran through her tone.

"How did you die?" Jack spoke up, stepping closer to Danny.

"Uh, electrocution," Danny winced, remembering the painful memory too well.

Both Jack and Maddie flinched slightly at this. "I can't imagine the pain you were in...but that doesn't make up for trying to terrorize the town," Maddie retorted.

"I'm _not _trying to terrorize the town. I'm trying to protect it from the evil ghosts."

"How do we know that? Can you prove it to us?" Maddie snipped.

"I can't, but I can tell you some things that might make you believe me," Danny decided. It was time to tell his parents the truth. He was never getting out of this situation otherwise. Besides, they might do some really awful things to him if he didn't tell them…

"So, um," Danny swallowed thickly. "Do you know of the existence of halfas? Half ghost, half human?"

This peaked Jack and Maddie's interest. "No...but how could there be such a thing?" Jack asked disbelievingly.

"It happens when a force of ectoplasm is strong enough to infuse with the DNA of the person, essentially giving them ghost powers, and a ghost form," Danny slightly hesitated.

"So, you're saying that's what happened to you? A force of ectoplasm so strong zapped you and therefore became infused with your DNA as a human?" Maddie asked.

Danny nodded.

"So, you're half human, then…?" Jack questioned.

"Yeah, I am."

"And, this is your ghost form?" Maddie asked, making sure she understood.

Danny hesitated again, before nodding slowly.

"Then, can we see your human form?" Jack said.

Danny inhaled sharply, obviously expecting this. He didn't know if he was ready, but he already dug himself deeply into this hole, and he had to bury it. "Yes, but please untie me first."

"O-okay," Maddie began to work at untying his feet and shins, while Jack did his wrists, chest, and torso.

Danny quickly got off the table, and went to stand in the middle of the lab, facing his parents. "Okay, so, here it goes," the white rings appeared. "Please don't hate me for this," he whispered.

As the rings began to travel further up and down Danny's body, both Jack and Maddie spotted Danny, their _son_, wearing his white t-shirt and blue jeans. As the rings completed their transformation, revealing Danny Fenton's black hair, blue eyes, and fair complexion, Maddie took his appearance in, eyes wide, mouth open, capable of whispering one word, "Danny."


	3. Hobbies

**Update: Just an edited version of this chapter. **

"I am _so _happy that everything worked out between Valerie and I," Danny began to his friends. "No more awkward tension, or unresolved feelings-"

"Until she finds out you're Danny Phantom, that is," Tucker retorted. Sam responded by glancing over at him, giving him a small, knowing smirk.

"She's not gonna find out. I've been careful since I got my powers!" Danny defended.

Sam crossed her arms. "Oh yeah, because you were _real _careful around Jazz," she rolled her eyes.

Danny averted his gaze from them. "Okay, that was _one _time," he crossed his arms.

"And what about the time you transformed on live television and revealed your secret to the entire world?" Tucker asked.

"Okay, one," Danny counted on fingers, "that was an _accident _and two, no one remembers that except for you two and Jazz."

Sam sighed. "Danny, we're just trying to look out for you. Valerie is an expert ghost hunter, or so she thinks she is, with a grudge against Danny Phantom. It's dangerous to let her in too much."

Danny sighed. "I appreciate the help guys, but I'm perfectly capable of having a friendship with Valerie while keeping my secret from her."

Sam and Tucker gave each other nervous looks, deciding not to press the subject any further.

It was 5 p.m., and for once, Danny was home, upstairs in his bedroom, playing video games online with Tucker.

"Aw, man, I can never get past this stupid level!" Danny cried to Tucker through the microphone.

"I know, man. That's why they call this level _Insanity_. Because it's _insanely _hard to beat," Tucker explained. "We've been playing for months and still get rebooted back to level _very hard _each time!"

"Huh, I'm taking a break. You good, Tuck?"

"Yeah man. Do what you gotta do," Tucker clicked off the line, leaving Danny completely alone in his bedroom.

He was about to head downstairs when his phone began ringing, his screen flashing with a text message.

_Valerie: Hey Danny, wanna get something 2 eat?_

Danny smiled. He hasn't _really _hung out with Valerie since they cleared up the awkward feelings between them.

_Danny: Yeah, Nasty Burger at 6 p.m.? _

_Valerie: Sounds good :) _

Danny put his phone down on top of his dresser. It was covered with NASA flyers, spaceship figurines, incomplete homework assignments, and some books Jazz had given him on ghost hunting that he was _definitely _not going to pick up. To her defense, it was before she found out about his alter ego, but still. "Wow, this must be what it's like to have a semi-normal life," Danny thought aloud, before a familiar blue wisp escaped his mouth. "For a whole 5 minutes, that is."  
Danny quickly changed into his alter ego, flying out his bedroom window, the papers previously on his dresser now scattered about his room.

Danny hovered above Amity Park, scanning his surroundings for any sign of a threat. He looked right, left, up, down. Nothing. "That's weird, maybe the ghost flew away?" He continued scanning, before his eyes landed on the big clock outside of a local bank. It read: 5:55 p.m.

"Oh, shit, I better get over to the Nasty Burger," he flew away in the direction of the restaurant, disregarding the ghost, or the lack of one, from only a few seconds ago.

Less than a minute later, Danny reached the Nasty Burger, flying behind the building in order to change back to Danny Fenton. He rounded the corner of the building, reaching for the doors, and entered the restaurant. Over on the ride side in the very back, he saw Valerie sitting in a booth by herself, vigorously typing on her phone. "Hey, Val," Danny approached her, waving, and took a seat across from her at the booth.

Valerie looked up, looking slightly exasperated. "Hey, Danny," she replied before returning to her phone.

Danny studied her, curious about her current obsession with her phone. "Is, something up…?" He asked, slightly hesitant.

Valerie sighed. "No it's...I'm sorry. It's just that my dad has been on my case for about a month now about a new hobby of mine."

_Oh, that hobby, _Danny thought. "So he doesn't approve? Let me guess, it's too dangerous and he's afraid for your safety, blah blah," he trailed off.

Valerie gave him a curious look. "How did you know?"

"I've been through a similar thing." _Yeah, with Jazz. And now with Sam and Tucker over me "hanging out with the enemy." _

"Oh," Valerie gave him a small, sympathetic smile. "I'm sure that my hobby differs from yours, though."

_Yeah, sort of, _Danny bit back a smirk. As he was opening his mouth to speak, the blue wisp brushed off his lips again. "Uh, can you excuse me for a moment?" Danny pulled out his phone, pretending he was heading outside to take a phone call. He raced to the same spot at the back of the building, quickly changing into his ghostly counterpart. He flew up into the air, once again, scanning his surroundings. "Where the _hell _is this-" He was cut off by a blast to his stomach, sending him hurtling towards the entrance of the Nasty Burger, landing with a loud _thump _on his back. He slowly lifted his head up, trying to orient himself. "What the _fu-" _

"Hello, ghost child," a voice welcomed him.

Valerie put her phone away, and was about to go check on Danny, who had left the building and had been gone for about 5 minutes now, before hearing a _CRASH _and the sound of something breaking against the concrete. She took the opportunity to run outside of the building, prepared to run to the back to change, before she was stopped by the sight in front of her. Phantom lay on the ground, looking dazed, a tall, bulky, mechanical ghost hunched over his form.

"Hello, ghost child," it said.

Valerie wasted no time throwing her bag down, transforming into her hunting gear. As she prepared for battle, she noticed both the mechanical ghost who she remembered as Skulker, and Phantom staring at her.

"Um, who is she?" Skulker looked to Phantom.

Phantom rubbed his head in pain. "What do you mean "who is she?" She's the girl you sent me into the ghost zone with a few months ago," he stood up, brushing the dirt and rocks off his suit.

"Oh, I do remember. Well, two pelts on my wall is better than one," the ghost evilly grinned.

"Okay, first of all, ew. Second of all, no," Phantom retorted.

Taking advantage of the situation, Valerie pulled out two small guns, one in each hand, and aimed one at the armored ghost, and the other at Phantom. "You two won't be talking for much longer, because I'm getting rid of both of you."

Danny put his hands up, trying to get Valerie to calm down. "Valerie, I don't think you want to do this."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," she said, not removing her guns from their direction.

Danny signed. "Look, I know you believe I'm an evil-"

"That's an understatement."

"But please, just help me fight Skulker, and then afterwards, you can have me all for your own, okay? Otherwise, Skulker is going to be attacking both of us. He put us both in the ghost zone before, you know what he's like."

"I'm right here, you know," Skulker said.

Danny and Valerie both ignored. Valerie didn't remove her guns from their direction, but the look on her face changed from determination and rage to pondering. "Okay, you have a deal," she lowered her gun that was pointed at Skulker. "I'll help you, and afterwards, you're mine."

The fight didn't last long. Both Phantom and Valerie have fought Skulker before, meaning both knew his weaknesses, and the fact that he's just a blob of green goo inside the massive armor. Even so, two against one, he really had no chance. They shot a few rays and weapons at each other, knocking each other down a few times, before Valerie, with one strike, sent Skulker crashing to the ground, and Danny quickly snuck up behind him, unscrewing his helmet and pulling out the "ghost zone's greatest hunter".

"I will destroy you!" It said from the grasp of Danny's white-gloved fingers.

"Yeah, sure you will," Danny pulled out the thermos from his belt, aiming it at Skulker. Before Danny uncapped the thermos, Skulker muttered one more thing to him.

"What you don't know, ghost child, is that I have another final trick up my sleeve," he grinned. Suddenly, a metal arm shot out of one of the compartments of Skulker's armor, gripping Danny in its hold, causing him to drop Skulker and the thermos. The arm sizzled violently, sending waves of electricity coursing through Danny's entire body. He screamed, and Valerie, feeling slight sympathy for him, did the best thing she could think of. First, she picked up the thermos, uncapping it and aiming it at the fleeing Skulker, Second, she put her finger on the trigger of her weapon, aiming it at the arm, and shot at it. It dropped Phantom to the ground. He looked mostly conscious still, but she could tell he was dazed and his eyes were unfocused. He tried to stand up, before his knees collapsed under him, sending him back down to the hard concrete. He lay on his back, eyes closed, and Valerie was blinded by two white rings that formed around his torso. She tried to look away, but her curiosity got the better of her. She watched as they traveled up and down Phantom's body, revealing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and red shoes. Valerie gasped when she saw his face- fair complexion, and black hair. It was Danny Fenton.

Danny woke up in his bed, a dull ache lingering in his head. The light burned his eyes, but he opened them so he was just barely squinting. He put his arms underneath him, sitting up, groaning through a slight pain in his entire body. He looked around his room, trying to remember how he ended up here. His eyes settled on something sitting in the corner on a chair- Valerie. _Oh, shit. _

"Hey, Danny," Valerie stared back at him, rising from her seat. She walked towards him, sitting at the edge of his bed. "Are you alright?" She said sympathetically.

"I-I think so. How...how did I end up here?"

"You don't remember?"

"I remember...wait. Wh-what do you know?"

"Um, a lot. T-that you're," she hesitated. "That you're Phantom."

"Oh, well, alright then," Danny looked away, not daring himself to speak.

"And I know that you had good intentions, and that you'd never purposely harm anyone. Well, anyone that wasn't a ghost, that is."

Danny looked back at her, surprised. "So you're not mad?"

"I'm just surprised, but also not. I don't know, I think I should've expected it," she smiled at him. "I just want some answers from you, and then we'll call it even?"

Danny smiles back at her. "You have a deal."

**Hey, everyone! So this chapter came out much faster than I anticipated, but once I started writing, I couldn't stop. I have some more free time now, so hopefully I should be back to writing more often! I have a DP one-shot in the works, so I hope you look forward to that. Anyways, I really wanted to end this chapter as soon as Valerie knew and skip the interaction between Danny and Valerie after she found out, but I didn't want to end another chapter on a cliff-hanger, even though that's one of my favorite things to do (I'm sorry). **

**I'm still working on ideas for the next chapter, so that should be up within the next week or so! :) **


	4. Love Hurts

**Hello, everybody. So this chapter focuses on Sam and Tucker finding out about Danny's powers, had they not had known from the very beginning. **

**Also, a warning: there's a small amount of swearing in this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom **

3 years.

No one knew about the accident with the portal. About his ghost powers.

Danny didn't tell his parents, or Jazz, or even his best friends, Sam and Tucker.

He was afraid he'd be rejected.

He was afraid his enemies would hurt his loved ones.

He didn't tell anyone.

Except, he knew that if he were to tell anyone first, it would be Sam and Tucker. Sure, a part of him was afraid of rejection, but deep down, he trusted them with anything. Even something as big as this.

He made up his mind- this week, he was going to tell them.

DPDPDPDPDPDP

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were eating lunch inside the cafeteria, the sky gloomy, frost starting to paint the windows. Despite the raw weather, the trio were laughing, telling jokes to each other, and making plans for the weekend. Sam and Tucker stopped talking to take a bite of their food, and Danny took this opportunity to speak up.

"Hey, guys, there's something I need to tell you."

Sam and Tucker looked up from their food, pausing. "What is it, Danny?"

"Do you remember that week I was out of school?"

Sam and Tucker nodded.

"Well, you see-" Danny was cut off by a loud explosion coming from outside the building. Everyone got up from their seats, ran up to the giant windows, and stared at the commotion outside. Danny took advantage of the students and teachers distraction, running out of the cafeteria to transform, turning intangible, and flying out of the building.

When he reached the scene, there was no sign of what, or who, caused the explosion. "What...what is going on?" Danny scanned his surroundings, flying around in circles.

DPDPDPDP

"Hey, it's Danny Phantom!" One of the students shouted from inside the cafeteria.

"Tucker, we should-"

"Sam, I am _not _getting in the middle of whatever that is. I know you have a crush on the ghost boy but-"

"I do _not _have a crush on him," Sam blushed.

"Uh-huh. Still not going," Tucker crossed his arms. "You just want to go so you can get a closer look at him."

Sam blushes even more. "Okay, I mean, maybe!" she threw her arms in the air. "But I just think we should do something instead of watching from the sidelines," Sam was about to rush out before she paused, looking around at the crowd. "Wait, where did Danny go?"

"Uh, bathroom, maybe?" Tucker shrugged.

"But he'd _love _to see this!"

"Okay, well, _you _can do something, then. I'm n-hey!" Sam grabbed Tucker by his arm, pulling him out of the cafeteria, and through the doors of the building to the scene outside.

DPDPDPDPDP

"I still don't see any-" Danny yelled as a pink blast of every flew directly past him, just barely missing his head. "What was that?" He turned looked over his shoulder in the direction of the blast, squinting his eyes in anger. "Plasmius."

"Hello, Daniel. It's about time we meet again," Plasmius grinned.

"What do you want, Vlad? Shouldn't you be looking for an online girlfriend, or maybe visiting a pet store?"

"Very funny, Daniel, but I have much bigger things in mind."

"Do those bigger things involve failing to steal my mom?"

Vlad let out an evil laugh. "You're funny, you know that?"

Danny, not wanting to converse any further with this fruitloop, began shooting at him. Vlad deflected the first few strikes with a "Nice try, Daniel", but was thrown back by the last one.

"Sorry, what was that, Vlad?"

Vlad only grunted, sending out pink rays in Danny's direction. The first two missed, but he was thrown backwards by the last one. Danny quickly recovered, orienting himself before shooting more green rays at Vlad. This time, however, they all missed.

"Ahh, now that _was _a nice try. I guess you're just not strong enough to defeat me," Vlad cackled.

"I don't know if you noticed, fruitloop, but I'm still fighting," Danny breathlessly replied.

Vlad chuckled. "Not for long." Then, he did something Danny was not expecting. Rather than striking again, he waved at Danny, and turned invisible. Danny circled in place, hoping to catch a glimpse of Vlad even though he knew it was almost impossible.

A minute passed, nothing happened, and then, Danny thought of a plan. _If _I _go invisible too, then he can't see me...right? _He turned invisible, flying back towards the ground. _Where are you, Vlad? _His question was answered by an extremely painful shot to the stomach. He went unconscious immediately, falling to the ground.

Vlad turned visible again, watching as Danny fell towards the ground, 15 yards away from the school. "If I want my plan to work, I need you out of the picture, Daniel. You may be injured, but this isn't over yet."

DPDPDPDPDPDP 

"Tucker, do you see that?" Sam pointed to the sky, where a small, limp figure was hurtling towards the ground, many feet from where they were standing.

"W-what do you think that is?"

Sam gasped. "Phantom! Tucker, let's go!" Once again, Tucker was being dragged in the direction of where the ghost boy was currently falling towards the ground.

A minute later, Sam and Tucker reached the spot where the ghost boy had landed only a few seconds ago. Upon closer approach, they realized that he was, indeed, unconscious, and seemed to be severely injured. "I-is he okay?" Tucker asked.

"I-I don't know," Sam inspected him closer. "Do you see his stomach?" Danny's uniform was torn, and a large wound, seeping with blood and ectoplasm was present.

"That doesn't look good, what do we do?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know any place that heals ghosts." Sam and Tucker both stared at the fallen hero, hoping he would wake up so they had a better idea of what to do.

As if on cue, Danny slowly opened his eyes, trying to sit up. He grunted in pain, laying back down in place.

"Phantom?" Tucker hesitantly asked.

"T-tucker?" Phantom groaned, lifting his head to the side to face him.

Tucker gasped. "You know my name?"

"Y-yeah. And you're S-sam."

Sam blushed. "H-hi. Um, are you okay?" Danny gave her a look like _Does it look like I'm okay? _"Sorry, stupid question," Sam moved slightly closer to him. "Look, we want to help you but we're not...really sure what to do."

"It's okay, I know, but first, I need to tell you something."

Sam and Tucker looked at each other, confused.

"I tried to tell you earlier, but the timing was w-wrong." Without any further explanation, Danny willed the white rings to appear around his torso, reverting back to Danny Fenton.

"D-danny?!" Sam and Tucker cried.

"B-but how?" Sam asked.

"I'll explain later, just," Danny shuddered as a wave of pain washed over him. "G-get me to the lab in my house, b-but don't let my f-family know," Danny said before passing out.

With only slight hesitation, Sam and Tucker carefully picked Danny up, Sam holding his arms and Tucker his legs, and carried him about 6 minutes from the school to Fentonworks.

"Tucker, you go inside and make sure the coast is clear. If not, then distract them so I can bring him downstairs," she gestured to Danny, whose head was hanging down, arm draped over Sam's shoulder.

Tucker knocked quickly on the door, waited a minute, and then went inside. He searched the house, checking for any signs of the three remaining members of the Fenton family. "Coast is clear."

Sam dragged Danny inside, and with the help of Tucker, carried him down to the lab, setting him on one of the examination tables. "Now what do we do?" Tucker asked.

"We have to clean the wound, and then wrap him up with bandages. It actually makes it easier, since he's human…" Sam trailed off, the sentence foreign on her tongue.

DPDPDPDPDP

After treating the wound, Sam and Tucker very gently brought Danny upstairs to his room, afraid that the Fentons would come home and see their son (or little brother, in Jazz's case), lying unconscious on an examination table in their laboratory, with bloody bandages wrapped around his torso.

A few hours later, Danny woke up in his bed, Sam and Tucker sitting on two chairs beside him. He slowly tried sitting up, before deciding to lean back into the pillows. "Uhh...fuck you, Vlad," Danny groaned, hand gently resting over the wound.

"D-danny, are you alright? What happened?" Sam asked.

Danny blinked a few times, attempting to orient himself. "Plasmisus, one of my longtime enemies. That's what happened."

"You sure you're okay, dude?" Concern shone in Tucker's eyes.

"I'll be okay. My powers help me heal faster."

"Speaking of, do you mind telling us exactly _what happened?" _Sam said.

Danny sighed. "The week that I was out of school, it wasn't just from a lab accident, or electrocution. I stepped into the portal, accidentally turning it on, and the shocks infused my DNA with ectoplasmic energy, thus giving me ghost powers," he explained.

"That makes about as much sense as I would expect it to," Tucker replied nonchalantly.

"So, you guys aren't mad at me for not telling you?"

"Why would we be mad? It's your secret, Danny. And I'm sure you really looking out for us. Well, in more ways than one," Sam reassured him.

Tucker nodded. "Agreed."

Danny smiled. "Thanks, guys. That really means a lot. I'm sorry you had to find out like this," he frowned.

"We're just really happy you're alright," Sam put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly.

"Yeah. And I'm sure Sam's happy that she found out her crush was actua-" Tucker was met with an elbow to the ribs. 

"Oops, sorry Tucker," Sam's face was red, but she managed a small smile.

Danny laughed. He sure was happy to have friends like this.

**So, I am not entirely sure how I felt about this chapter. I think it was my most plot driven and complex chapter, but I thought it got lost at some points. Otherwise, I'm happy with how it turned out. But let me know what you think!**

**Also, on a side note, I just want to clear up one little thing that I thought might be confusing. The reason Danny didn't transform back to human initially is (plot reasons), but really because 3 years after receiving his ghost powers, I thought he'd have more control over them to stay in his ghost form, even when unconscious or in a lot of pain. **

**That is all, until next time!**

**-phanelric **


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